Injured big toe presented big problems for UFC on FOX 2's Evan Dunham

This could be a problem when you’re trying to stay injury-free, and the 30-year-old lightweight is still working that out. Or just as likely, crossing his fingers.

“It sucks to be sidelined because of your big toe,” Dunham today told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio).

Such a small appendage might not seem a good reason to keep you on the bench, but when it’s near-dislocating every time you push off it, things can get dicey. Dunham’s toe started doing that every once and a while in the gym, and it was annoying. Then, one day in the gym, a training partner shot in for a takedown as he threw a front kick and he “punted his forehead” with the toe. After that, it started happening every day.

When you train seven days a week, as Dunham has admittedly done in the past, it’s the little stuff that turns into big stuff.

The injury storm has passed for now, but caught the next opponent he was scheduled to fight, Paul Sass. Now, Dunham (12-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) has another with Nik Lentz (21-4-2 MMA, 5-1-1 UFC) at UFC on FOX 2, which takes place Saturday at United Center in Chicago. The matchup is part of an eight-bout preliminary card that airs live on FUEL TV and leads into a three-bout main card on FOX.

But you have to imagine that Dunham is hoping that things stay on an even keel this year. He fought four times over 12 months starting in 2010, and while he hit dual roadblocks – in the form of Sean Sherk and Melvin Guillard – that halted an impressive rise in the division, he put himself on the map.

Plus, staying busy keeps him in Pampers, which he’ll need about a week after the fight when his fiancee gives birth.

“I see very good things happening in 2012 as my career and family builds, so I’m excited for it,” Dunham said.

Dunham said the plan, as specific as these things get, is to outpace the wrestling-centric Lentz. That means staying in top position if he’s on the mat, cutting angles in the pocket, and grinding Lentz against the fence if it gets close.

But at the same time, he’s still doing his thing in the gym and not specifically tailoring everything he does to what Lentz might or might do.

“I watched a good amount on Nik,” Dunham said. “I’m familiar with his style, so it’s just a matter of watching enough so you can become familiar with their tendencies and their favorite positions and get a good idea of what it is they’re looking for.

“I know I’ve done that with Nik. I’m fairly confident with how he’s going to approach this fight. But it all depends on the fight. You don’t want to watch too much and obsess over it because you also want to go out there and not care too much about what they want to do, and just implement what you want to do.”

Punting Lentz’s forehead with his shin would probably be high on his list, but that’s maybe getting ahead of himself. A win will do, and a healthy win at that.

Dunham’s got mouths to feed, after all. But it might be a good idea to take up boating, or better yet, backgammon.

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